Disposable absorbent products are widely used in the medical field, for pets, and in any manner where a material for absorption of liquids and/or bodily fluids may be needed. Health and household items such as sanitary napkins, urinary incontinence pads, disposable diapers and the like typically have an absorbent core made from a chlorine bleached wood pulp that has been attached to a fluid containing plastic layer using an absorbent gel. The manufacture of these products requires cutting down entire trees and processing them to create the wood pulp used to create the absorbent layer, making the process very eco-unfriendly. The presence of the chlorine and gel prevents these products from being recycled. Instead they are typically disposed of in a landfill where it can take 500-800 years for them to degrade. Not only do the products take a long time to degrade, another problem results is the amount of trash that is accumulated from used pads, diapers and the like. In India, for example, pads create approximately 108,000 tons of waste annually. Most of this waste sits in landfills.
In Africa and India and many other places, women and girls have limited access to sanitary pads which can lead to an adverse effect on their education, productivity and health. In fact, millions of women and girls miss numerous days of school and/or work per year when they are menstruating. The same is true of women and men who have problems with urinary incontinence. Also, many brands of commercial sanitary pads are simply too expensive. For example, in India up to 88% of woman and girls miss school and/or work because of the lack of affordable sanitary pads. Some women even resort to use of rags and other materials that are not hygienic and can lead to infections. In addition, as stated above, conventional sanitary pads use bleach, chemical additives and other toxic materials that can be absorbed by the body, thereby adversely affecting the health of the user.